Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Mr. Baddeley, The Comedian, Of Drury-Lane Theatre.
cul ty ; and it was thought necessary to send him home with all possible expedition . His own servant accompanied him in a hackneycoach to his house in Store-street , where he was instantly put to bed . The surgeon who usually attended him on these occasions was immediatety sent for , whose professional skill was so far successful , that btwelve o ' clock Mr . Baddele 3 * was sufficiently recovered to
y dispense with his presence . The servant who , being a married man , did not sleep in the house , was dismissed , and Mrs . Baddeley sat up alone in the chamber , watching the progress of his convalescence with conjugal affection and anxiety . Not many minutes had elapsed before she was alarmed by respirations of a guttural nature , to which her husband had never before
been subject ; this induced her to solicit the immediate return of the surgeon , although there was no appearance of alteration in Mr . Badde ley ' s countenance , and he was otherwise perfectly calm and composed . He continued as if in a comfortable dose for a short time , and before one o ' clock , a single hour only after the departure of the surgeon ,
he expired . —He died without tlie convulsion of a single muscle , and a gentle sigh was the only token of his departure . He was afterwards opened by Mr . Wilson , the lecturer . Upon the brain , in a very unusual cavity , a considerable quantity of blood had coagulated . His death must necessarily have been instantaneous , and attended with little pain . If thou and nature can so gently part , The stroke of death is as a lover ' s pinch , Which hurts , and is desir'd .
In the statement of his testamentary bequests there has been considerable inaccuracy . —' -It has been alleged , that he has left several alms-bouses for decayed actors .: tins is an exaggeration ; the fact is nearty this—the cottage in which he occasionalh * resided , a few miles from town , he has bequeathed to the Theatrical Fund , with an ad libitum proviso to the following purport : if it can be made convenient he wishes the house should be inhabited by such four of the
Fund Pensioners as may not object to living sociably under the same roof : there are two parlours for their joint indulgence , ancl four separate bed-chambers . —No man more than Baddeley respected his profession . The report of his cynical austerity is groundless . Men have too incautiousty determined the quality of his heart by the hardness of his physiognomy .
The above bequest is an instance of his benevolence ; but this is not all , he was not content with this allowance , but , extending his bounty with his thoughts , he has assigned a specific sum to be g iven , nominally , to the parish , by the four inhabitants , that their character and profession may elude even the possibility of reproach . A consideration which will do him more honour than the donation itself .
The singularity of his mind is further observable iu his leaving three pounds annually for a Twelfth Cake , to be distributed in the Green Room . The ori g in of this fancy may be thus dated . On this festival it was customary to eat cake in the Theatre ; and Baddelev .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Mr. Baddeley, The Comedian, Of Drury-Lane Theatre.
cul ty ; and it was thought necessary to send him home with all possible expedition . His own servant accompanied him in a hackneycoach to his house in Store-street , where he was instantly put to bed . The surgeon who usually attended him on these occasions was immediatety sent for , whose professional skill was so far successful , that btwelve o ' clock Mr . Baddele 3 * was sufficiently recovered to
y dispense with his presence . The servant who , being a married man , did not sleep in the house , was dismissed , and Mrs . Baddeley sat up alone in the chamber , watching the progress of his convalescence with conjugal affection and anxiety . Not many minutes had elapsed before she was alarmed by respirations of a guttural nature , to which her husband had never before
been subject ; this induced her to solicit the immediate return of the surgeon , although there was no appearance of alteration in Mr . Badde ley ' s countenance , and he was otherwise perfectly calm and composed . He continued as if in a comfortable dose for a short time , and before one o ' clock , a single hour only after the departure of the surgeon ,
he expired . —He died without tlie convulsion of a single muscle , and a gentle sigh was the only token of his departure . He was afterwards opened by Mr . Wilson , the lecturer . Upon the brain , in a very unusual cavity , a considerable quantity of blood had coagulated . His death must necessarily have been instantaneous , and attended with little pain . If thou and nature can so gently part , The stroke of death is as a lover ' s pinch , Which hurts , and is desir'd .
In the statement of his testamentary bequests there has been considerable inaccuracy . —' -It has been alleged , that he has left several alms-bouses for decayed actors .: tins is an exaggeration ; the fact is nearty this—the cottage in which he occasionalh * resided , a few miles from town , he has bequeathed to the Theatrical Fund , with an ad libitum proviso to the following purport : if it can be made convenient he wishes the house should be inhabited by such four of the
Fund Pensioners as may not object to living sociably under the same roof : there are two parlours for their joint indulgence , ancl four separate bed-chambers . —No man more than Baddeley respected his profession . The report of his cynical austerity is groundless . Men have too incautiousty determined the quality of his heart by the hardness of his physiognomy .
The above bequest is an instance of his benevolence ; but this is not all , he was not content with this allowance , but , extending his bounty with his thoughts , he has assigned a specific sum to be g iven , nominally , to the parish , by the four inhabitants , that their character and profession may elude even the possibility of reproach . A consideration which will do him more honour than the donation itself .
The singularity of his mind is further observable iu his leaving three pounds annually for a Twelfth Cake , to be distributed in the Green Room . The ori g in of this fancy may be thus dated . On this festival it was customary to eat cake in the Theatre ; and Baddelev .